Eric Jou

Defense of the Ancients, aka DOTA, champion Wei Shanchuan (卫山川) doesn't have many regrets regarding his professional gaming career. Why should he? He's fairly young and he's won many national tournaments in China. So when he was approached by a reporter for a profile piece on his life as a gamer he was eager to give the goods. Unfortunately for Wei, the story took a turn for the worse.

After he had read the published article, he was incensed by the fact that the reporter chose to highlight some of the more unflattering aspects of his life. The lede (the opening paragraph) and the nutgraph (main information paragraph) pretty much called Wei out as a loser and an internet addict. The reporter even made a point to say that Wei wanted to tell his story as a cautionary tale for college students.

Basically, Wei, a hardcore gamer who has won 20 various types of DOTA championships including 10 on the Chinese national circuit was hoping his story of perseverance would help inspire people. Wei had gotten sick because of all the time he spent playing video games, it reflected in his health, his studies, and his love life. Wei also stopped playing DOTA and online games professionally because of his health problems.

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In response to the libelous words written about him, Wei spoke to Sina.com's gaming portal about what he really wanted to say.

"When I was interviewed, I told reporters that E-Sports gave me a positive energy; it had a great effect on me, giving me a never-give-up spirit," said Wei. "I also never said I would be giving up gaming, I had meant that I wanted to graduate university and find a job—the reporters distorted my words."

Wei also goes on the offensive, citing the portion of the article about his love life. According to the reporters, Wei had incurred neck and back problems from prolonged gaming and this somehow led to problems with his girlfriends.

"The reporters wanted to portray some kind of sad love story," said Wei. "This really pissed my father off—he was so angry that he shook with rage, cursing the reporters."

Wei attests that he doesn't have any physical deformities or ailments that came from gaming, and that it was purely fiction. He claims that he's living a fulfilling life. Recently, Wei says, he started working on an internet advertising firm with his friends. The article has had a profound effect on his life:

"Many friends call me to ask if any of what was in the article was true," said Wei. "I didn't know how to really deal with this."

Despite being disappointed with the reporter who made a drama out of his life, Wei hopes that his message that E-Sports isn't bad won't be lost to the readers.

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